Retro gamers will know that all joysticks are not the same; different consoles use different pin-outs – despite having the same connector – and lots of 80’s/90’s joysticks are rubbish or thrashed. Until recently the only one that I had was a very broken original Atari – off to eBay again.
After lots of auction stalking, I got lucky with a bid on a very sorry Atari 2600Jr, which included several joysticks and an Atari keypad – luckily none of these were shown in the first picture; which was of the very sorry-looking Atari. For only £16 including postage I had an Atari 2600 Jnr, 3 * Speedking joysticks, 2 * generic sticks, and an Atari 2600 Keypad. In another auction, I also picked up a chunky Quickshot Joystick QS 138F, which it turns out supports multiple console standards – and rather uniquely – two players.
When they arrived the pictures hadn’t done justice to the level of dirt that was covering it all – there was nothing else for it but complete deconstruction and soap and water.
I dismantled all of the joysticks and washed thoroughly, along with the Atari.
![](https://www.bitwrangler.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_20210821_134115-1-576x1024.jpg)
![](https://www.bitwrangler.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_20210821_143735.jpg)
After drying and reassembly the only thing left was for some testing…
![](https://www.bitwrangler.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_20210821_152224-576x1024.jpg)
![](https://www.bitwrangler.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_20210821_155253-576x1024.jpg)
With the exception of one, which I’m guessing isn’t an Atari stick, they all worked perfectly. I especially like the features of the Quickshot and the styling of the SpeedKings. I don’t have any games to test the Atari keypad with, so I guess that’s a job for another day.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.bitwrangler.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_20210821_161101-1.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.bitwrangler.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG_20210821_161653-2.jpg?ssl=1)
I quickly tried the Atari console, it has power, but the picture is garbage…. part 2.